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Napata
18°32′N 31°50′E / 18.53°N 31.84°E
Napata /ˈnæpətə/ (Old Egyptian Npt, Npy; Meroitic Napa; Ancient Greek: Νάπατα and Ναπάται) was a city of ancient Kush at the fourth cataract of the Nile founded by the Egyptian Amun cult for Egyptian pilgrims given by its, as suggested, Egyptian name. It is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the east side of the river at the site of modern Karima, Sudan.
Napata was the southernmost permanent settlement in the New Kingdom of Egypt (16th–11th centuries BC) and home to Jebel Barkal, the main Kushite cult centre of Amun. It was the sometime capital of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and, after its fall in 663 BC, of the Kingdom of Kush. In 593 BC, it was sacked by the Egyptians and the Kushite capital was relocated to Meroë. Even after this move, Napata continued to be the kingdom's primary religious centre. The city was sacked a second time by the Romans in 23 BC but was rebuilt and continued as an important centre of the Amun cult.
The terms "Napata" or "Napatan period" can also refer to the Kushite polity from its rise around 750 BC until 270 BC, when Napata finally lost its symbolic significance as the location of royal burials to Meroë. The subsequent period of Kushite history is called Meroitic down to the collapse of the kingdom.
Napata was founded by Thutmose III in the 15th century BC after his conquest of Kush. Because Egyptians believed that the inundation of the Nile equated Creation, Napata's location as the southernmost point in the empire led it to become an important religious centre and settlement. In the Early 18th Dynasty, Jebel Barkal, a lone sandstone butte, became a focus of Egyptian cultic religion as the residence of their state god Amun of Karnak. In the shadow of Jebel Barkal, a religious centre called Karnak was erected and the settlement that followed in the area became known as Napata.
In 1075 BC, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes, capital of Egypt, became powerful enough to limit the power of Pharaoh Smendes of the post-Ramesside Twenty-first Dynasty over Upper Egypt. This was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period (1075–664 BC). The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed the Kushites to regain autonomy as they became increasingly estranged from Theban clergy. They founded the Kingdom of Kush, which was centered at Napata. A stela erected in Napata in the eighth century presents a Kushite king (whose title has been hammered out) as the only ruler legitimated by the god Amun, appointing the kinglets and Libyan chiefs who shared Egypt at that time and derived their legitimacy from the generals' discretion.
In 750 BC, Napata was a developed city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. Kashta, whose name is Egyptian for "the Kushite", profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt. His policy was pursued by his successors Piye, and Shabaka (721–707 BC), who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Overall, the Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and the whole of Egypt for approximately 57 years, from 721 to 664 BC. They constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho's Aegyptiaca. Furthermore, these Kushite kings were supported by Amun clergy at Thebes and believed their power was claimed through Amun of Jebel Barkal and Amun of Karnak. They are depicted in art as having worn a particular type of skull-cap crown reminiscent of the shape of Jebel Barkal, which was intended to show how they derived their power from that “Pure Mountain”.
The reunited Egyptian empire under the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom and ushered in a renaissance. Religion, arts, and architecture were restored to their Old, Middle, and New Kingdom forms. Pharaohs, such as Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, Jebel Barkal, and elsewhere.
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Napata
18°32′N 31°50′E / 18.53°N 31.84°E
Napata /ˈnæpətə/ (Old Egyptian Npt, Npy; Meroitic Napa; Ancient Greek: Νάπατα and Ναπάται) was a city of ancient Kush at the fourth cataract of the Nile founded by the Egyptian Amun cult for Egyptian pilgrims given by its, as suggested, Egyptian name. It is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the east side of the river at the site of modern Karima, Sudan.
Napata was the southernmost permanent settlement in the New Kingdom of Egypt (16th–11th centuries BC) and home to Jebel Barkal, the main Kushite cult centre of Amun. It was the sometime capital of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and, after its fall in 663 BC, of the Kingdom of Kush. In 593 BC, it was sacked by the Egyptians and the Kushite capital was relocated to Meroë. Even after this move, Napata continued to be the kingdom's primary religious centre. The city was sacked a second time by the Romans in 23 BC but was rebuilt and continued as an important centre of the Amun cult.
The terms "Napata" or "Napatan period" can also refer to the Kushite polity from its rise around 750 BC until 270 BC, when Napata finally lost its symbolic significance as the location of royal burials to Meroë. The subsequent period of Kushite history is called Meroitic down to the collapse of the kingdom.
Napata was founded by Thutmose III in the 15th century BC after his conquest of Kush. Because Egyptians believed that the inundation of the Nile equated Creation, Napata's location as the southernmost point in the empire led it to become an important religious centre and settlement. In the Early 18th Dynasty, Jebel Barkal, a lone sandstone butte, became a focus of Egyptian cultic religion as the residence of their state god Amun of Karnak. In the shadow of Jebel Barkal, a religious centre called Karnak was erected and the settlement that followed in the area became known as Napata.
In 1075 BC, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes, capital of Egypt, became powerful enough to limit the power of Pharaoh Smendes of the post-Ramesside Twenty-first Dynasty over Upper Egypt. This was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period (1075–664 BC). The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed the Kushites to regain autonomy as they became increasingly estranged from Theban clergy. They founded the Kingdom of Kush, which was centered at Napata. A stela erected in Napata in the eighth century presents a Kushite king (whose title has been hammered out) as the only ruler legitimated by the god Amun, appointing the kinglets and Libyan chiefs who shared Egypt at that time and derived their legitimacy from the generals' discretion.
In 750 BC, Napata was a developed city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. Kashta, whose name is Egyptian for "the Kushite", profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt. His policy was pursued by his successors Piye, and Shabaka (721–707 BC), who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Overall, the Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and the whole of Egypt for approximately 57 years, from 721 to 664 BC. They constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho's Aegyptiaca. Furthermore, these Kushite kings were supported by Amun clergy at Thebes and believed their power was claimed through Amun of Jebel Barkal and Amun of Karnak. They are depicted in art as having worn a particular type of skull-cap crown reminiscent of the shape of Jebel Barkal, which was intended to show how they derived their power from that “Pure Mountain”.
The reunited Egyptian empire under the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom and ushered in a renaissance. Religion, arts, and architecture were restored to their Old, Middle, and New Kingdom forms. Pharaohs, such as Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, Jebel Barkal, and elsewhere.